Dear Ms. Pageturner,
It started when I was in second grade. At first, it was just a simple diversion from my mathematics textbook, an innocent escape into the newly popular Ramona series by Beverly Cleary. I'd slide my musty, hard-covered math tome to the edge of my desk and pull my guilty pleasure out from the drawer. It was thick and soft, a perfect fit in my hands, Ramona & Co. up to some hijinx on the vibrant cover. I'd seize an hour to read, but I still returned to the textbook in the end. Over the next few years, I managed to control my reading sprees, but the more time I stole to read, the more alluring books became. Now my childhood pastime has evolved into an all-consuming habit, and I'm always reading books, sometimes three at once. What long ago was a small indulgence, a meager form of procrastination, has blossomed into a full-fledged devotion to all things literary. I have difficulty concentrating at work, and sometimes can't sleep for fear of what might come in the next chapter. My days are filled with the anguish of the broken-hearted, the triumph of the human spirit and the romance of trans-continental adventure. Can you tell I'm reading Kostova's

Picking out good books

The Historian? Help!

-Completely Seduced

Dear Completely Seduced,
It is clear from your letter that your interest in reading for pleasure is beyond the pale and likely, I must concede, an addiction. Books are insidious creatures and cannot, once they have their talons in you, be denied. Your only course of action, then, must be to accept and celebrate their monumental power. Instead of hiding your affair in the library stacks or under the covers at bedtime, I urge you to trot your fidelity - and yourself - out into the sparkling autumn daylight. Get thee to the Ninth Annual Sarasota Reading Festival, held this year on Saturday, November 4, 2006, at Five Points Park in downtown Sarasota.

Every reader appreciates a good backstory, so I won't refuse you some solid exposition. The festival caters to types like you, drawing noted authors of both local and national acclaim to Sarasota's cultural crossroads, with Selby Public Library, the Sarasota Opera House and the Golden Apple Dinner Theatre playing host to the many events.

Organized to support and to showcase the Selby Public Library and the Jane Bancroft Cook Library's literary contributions to the community, the festival is part of a year-round literacy program, which distributed 10,000 free books to children last year. I note this, Completely Seduced, because the festival's objective is to honor books and to proclaim the joy of reading near and far. To that end, you'll find tents and tables spread with books and authors such as Jan Burke and Michael Connelly signing theirs at busy booths throughout the park.

But what makes the festival positively page turning is its diversity. Beyond the glossy exhibits from bookstores such as Sarasota News & Books and scholarly publishers like the University Press of Florida, there are storytelling times for the kids and dance performances on stage in the open air and a free book for every child who attends. A tight schedule of readings and discussions feature the invited authors and local book experts advising book groups and making yearly reading suggestions. Community poetry awards are bestowed and craft booths call all kids to get creative.

With more than 18,000 people attending, 50 free programs offered to the community and 10,000 free books doled out to the youngest readers last year, the Sarasota Reading Festival is a hub of literary activity, appealing to readers of all tastes and sizes. And like any novel of rich and ample proportions, the festival has a promising introduction. The opening night gala, A Novel Affair, is an author and sponsor party, raising funds for the festival's outreach efforts in the coming year. Amid hors d'oeuvres and book displays, anyone who has been hopelessly taken with the world of books can mingle with authors and publishers, collecting autographs and inspiration.

You'll find you are not alone in your love for books at the Sarasota Reading Festival, Completely Seduced. And that the best resolution for rampant reading is to pass the book to someone else.

If You Go:
Sarasota Reading Festival: 941-906-1733
www.sarasotareadingfestival.com

Updated 10/11/06